I am a young Golden Retriever who was a homeless dog, I was moments away from being killed when I was rescued by Golden Retriever Rescue of the Rockies (GRRR), given a foster home, then a forever home. I write this blog to inspire other dogs and humans to help find homes for abandoned dogs. My family takes in fosters now and I help homeless dogs find their way to forever homes. Write me at Mogley.retriever@gmail.com

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

The true story of Christmas is that Reindogs
pull Santa's sleigh, not Reindeer! With your
help, we can correct a longstanding lie. For a hundred
years, Reindeer have gotten all the credit for pulling Santa's
sleigh, but Reindogs do all the work. We are asking for your help to
spread the word and expose this cover up of the truth. As proof that
Santa uses Reindogs, we have listed below the facts and truths that
prove Reindogs are the real heros of Christmas. Just because the
Reindeer could claim endangered status and could afford better
lobbyists and public relations firms does not make it right that they
should continue getting the credit for all that work delivering toys
all over the world, and getting all of the good parts in the movies
while dogs do all of the work.

Dogs have been an integral part of Christmas from the very first
one. Beginning at the manger, 2,000 years ago in Bethlehem, when the
very first Christmas presents were delivered, a dog guided the Wise
Men to the stable. A dog stood watch over the gifts and guarded the
Christ child on that first glorious Christmas night. History
suggests that the bright star that guided the Wise Men was Sirius,
the Dog Star (check Wikipedia to verify this). Hence the origins of
Christmas and Reindogs! If you still don't believe in Reindogs, go
to your Bible and find the verse on Reindeer!

We put a lot of the blame for the error on the National Geographic
Magazine. Years ago a photographer was at the North Pole taking
photos of Santa just before Christmas. All the reindeer were out in
front of Santa's house, trying to beg carrots and lettuce from the
visitors. The hard working Reindogs were out back, doing their
exercises, running their daily 10K, getting ready to pull Santa's
sleigh all around the world on Christmas eve. That is how photos of
Reindeer ended up in the national press at Christmas time and the big
lie began. It should have been obvious to everyone that when the
Reindeer put on the harness to pose for photos, that the harness did
not fit them, Reindeer were too large. They had to find the smallest
members of the herd to put in front of the sleigh for photos. That
is because the harness was designed for dogs, not deer. Those
photos of the “eight tiny reindeer” began the great lie.

In the poem “’Twas the night before Christmas” the author
referred to Santa and his eight tiny reindeer, but he knew better.
Reindeer was an easier word for the writer to rhyme words with than
Reindogs. He knew that the eight members of Santa’s team were
Reindogs, he just used poetic license. Talk about an inconvenient
truth!

Who is it that pulls sleds and sleighs at Santa's home at the
North Pole? It’s dogs, not deer. Go look at the annual Iditarod
race results and see how many teams of reindeer finished last year.
There were over 50 teams with over 1,000 dogs and not a reindeer
among them. If those reindeer are so good at pulling sleighs, why
don't they win the Iditarod race? How many Eskimos use reindeer to
hunt walrus and seals? Just open your National Geographic magazine
and see for yourself. They don't show pictures of Eskimos hunting
polar bears with reindeer. They use dogs!

Still not convinced? Santa’s last name is “Claus”, not Hoofs
or Horns. They just misspelled claws. It’s that poetic license
thing again. So who has claws? Not reindeer, but Reindogs do!
Reindeer with their sharp, hard hooves could never keep their footing
on the steep and slippery roofs that they have to land the sleigh on,
but a dog’s paws with claws and pads grip the ice and snow to keep
their footing on the roof. At the end of the poem, “He sprang to
his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,” proves that the author was
part of the great conspiracy, he knew that you don't whistle at deer,
you whistle at dogs!

Seriously, do you think that reindeer can fly through the trees
and around all the power lines with those big antlers? They would get
tangled up at every turn. We all know that dogs can fly, watch the
frisbee throwing competition or the dock diving contests. Dogs have
to keep their secret flying ability under control to keep from giving
our secret powers away.

One skeptic pointed out that Santa's rounds might go faster if
his Reindogs did not have to stop and smell each fire hydrant on
their rounds. Someone saw us smelling sign posts and did not
realize it was foggy out and we had to pull the sleigh up close so
Santa could read the street sign. We have to stop with Santa on
every street anyway. Those sniffs are how we update the long "Naughty
and Nice List" that has to be kept up to date, even on Christmas
Eve. Long before E-mail was invented, Reindogs used P-mail by
sniffing posts and trees along the way to find little boys’ and
girls’ homes. Let’s see a reindeer do that!

It is well known that “Dogs are man’s best friend”, but
somehow you believe that reindeer bring your presents? That is the
kind of logic that made Mr. Spock glad he was not human. Dogs are
recognized as man’s best friend because we are responsible for
bringing everyone their Christmas gifts, for protecting them and for
bringing joy to children across the land.

If you were Santa and it was your job to ‘Fetch” toys to
children all over the world in one night, who would you turn to,
reindeer or Reindogs? Reindogs "fetch" toys to millions of
boys and girls in one night. Go to any dog park and see for yourself
how many reindeer are playing fetch and bringing tennis balls to
little boys and girls. Dogs make children’s faces light up by
fetching them toys and balls, doing every day what they do for
millions of children on Christmas Eve. Just try throwing a ball for a
reindeer and see how good they are at "fetching". This is
proof that Reindogs are really the heros of Christmas.

Dogs can be trained, they obey commands. Dogs can come, sit, lie
down, fly and even go to little Billy's house on Santa's Command. Try
telling your neighborhood Reindeer to "go to little Billy's
house", and see what happens. Nothing!

How do you think Santa keeps his "Naughty and Nice List"
up to date? There are millions of hard working dogs keeping track of
the children on their block. All that barking at night is not just
noise, it is Reindog assistants relaying the updates for the Naughty
and Nice list back to Santa. More proof that reindeer are just a
myth. Santa does not rely on reindeer to keep his list up to date,
it all falls to the hard working dogs.

According to long standing tradition, you are asked to leave milk
and cookies out for Santa and his team. Who do you suppose drinks all
of that milk and eats all those cookies? Reindogs, that's who.
Reindeer eat hay, if you don't believe me go search Wikipedia. This
year we are trying to start a new tradition, instead of milk and
cookies, could you leave a good chew treat as well? When you see the
chew treats gone on Christmas morning, that will more proof of
Reindogs existence.

The true story of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindog has long been our
family tradition. I was told this story as a tiny puppy, just before
Christmas when daddy had to go to the North Pole to get ready for his
night’s work. According to our family history, which has been
handed down from mouth to ear for many generations, Rudolph is a
direct ancestor of mine. It all started with my great, great, great,
great, great grandpaw. He had an extraordinary nose and had long used
his special talent to track lost explorers and packages at the North
Pole. He had a red nose from following scent trails in deep snow, his
nose used to get cold and red from the exposure to snow and cold. One
foggy Christmas Eve Santa needed help in finding the route to take
for his scheduled Christmas Eve run. Rudolph G. Retriever stepped
forward and offered to guide the team by scent, tracking good little
boys and girls with his nose, thus saving Christmas that year. His
nose grew cold and turned red from flying at the head of the team in
the cold. That established a wonderful family tradition, that is
until the reindeer lobby stepped in to take credit for it all.

Most of the crowded dog shelters and homeless dogs are directly
related to this travesty. Millions of unemployed Reindogs have been
thrown out of work by the upstart reindeer. Because of the great
reindeer lie, the dogs that pull the sleigh to deliver the toys end
up in shelters and pounds during the off season because of the
reindeer conspiracy. The reindeer take all the good parts in the
Christmas plays, manger scenes and movies, leaving Reindogs truly out
in the cold. It is a travesty I tell you!

The dogs of the world expect an apology from the press. We will
expect the artists and movie producers to book dogs for the publicity
shots and movie roles so that at long last Reindogs will get the
credit due to them. We need you to help
us spread the word and reverse this great lie. Help us keep this
great dream alive and tell others about the great heritage that has
been stolen from us. Help our unemployed doggy friends to find work
on stage and screen, playing the true roles of Santa's Rendogs.

Fear not, children, Santa and his team of Reindogs will be there
for you on Christmas Eve!

For the past several years I have been reading your posts about Reindogs to my Goldens. Each year they ask when it will be their turn to pull Santa's sleigh. They have been very good this year, so I'm not sure what to tell them. They even spent some extra time outside with the cold Colorado weather, getting ready for the big night.